Yemen Houthi boss tells men to fight on, dismisses loss of Aden

SANAA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The leader of Yemen's Houthis urged
his militia on Sunday to fight on against Yemen's Gulf
Arab-backed government, dismissing its recapture of Aden last
month as a 'limited' achievement made possible by Ramadan.

In a speech live on television apparently aimed at shoring
up the morale of his men, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi accused his foes
of resorting to alliances with both the Islamic State militant
group and Israel in their assault on the southern port city.

Houthi said Aden's fall occurred only because some Houthis
and allied fighters had returned home to be with their families
at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He said a
political solution to the war was still possible.

"Continue and move in your resistance. You are in a strong
position. And you are on the way to win," he said. "We are in a
battle, a great battle, in which we must use all our efforts."

The government retook much of Aden in July, supported by air
strikes waged since late March by Saudi Arabia and its regional
allies who are trying to end Houthi control over much of the
country and return President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from exile.

"The enemy, when it threw all its weight and carried out
thousands of raids, succeeded in limited achievements. They took
advantage of an opportunity," Houthi said, referring to Ramadan.

"A political solution is still possible, internally," he
said of the four-month-old war, without elaborating.

A Saudi citizen was killed in shelling fired across the
border from Yemen into the southwest of Saudi Arabia on Sunday,
the official SPA news agency reported. A shell fell on a house
around dawn in Najran province, civil defence department
spokesman Ali bin Omair al-Shahran was quoted as saying.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported that Houthis
and allies among army units loyal to former Yemeni president Ali
Abdullah Saleh fired artillery shells at al Radeef Saudi
military site in Jizan, a southwest region of the kingdom.

The bombardment killed a number of Saudi soldiers, the
agency said, quoting a military source. Reuters could not
independently verify the information.

The Houthis and Saleh loyalists also shelled the al-Mazaab
and al Ain Hara Saudi military camps in Jizan, it reported.

Alhadath TV channel, part of Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV,
reported late on Sunday that Houthi forces executed 11
resistance fighers captured in the southern province of Lahej.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari and Hadeel al Sayegh; Writing by
William Maclean; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Robin Pomeroy)